Contributed by Brian Wallington on 4/3/08

Respect you elders. AZ isn’t anyone’s grandfather but after strong-arming the game in ‘94 on Illmatic courtesy of Nas, fourteen years later he still hasn’t let up. AZ has been connected since high school when he and Jay-z shared the same turf and battled in the halls of Eli Whitney High School in Brooklyn. One of the few who sat at the table with the legends playing monopoly in Jay-z’s “Dead Presidents” video, do not be misled, he knows the game. Ask Nas who he was making his rounds with in the 90’s.

With the release of his seventh album Undeniable, AZ has done it his way again giving his fan base the breath of fresh air they clamor for. Using his own recipe he knows what he intends to cook up, his smooth and single octave delivery is as reliable as they come. AZ is also as east coast as they come, spawning from an era where New York held the keys to hip hop. What has kept AZ enduring through the evolution of hip hop? He exudes an aura of confidence that is deeply rooted in his own conviction. In an interview on MTV.com AZ comments on a track from Aziatic and earnestly reflects, “I wanna be here when people start recognizing me for what I’m worth. I don’t wanna die for people to go back and be like, ‘A was one of the top ten [MC’s]”. He is determined to be alive when he finally receives his proper due, alluding to the notion that everyone has to die to receive the proper accolades. On his album The Format he jokes “I ain’t going nowhere, im gon be here til the year 2030”.

AZ has always has been compared and related to one of his closest friends, Nas. Perhaps that is his most stifling barricade. In 1994 when Nas was viewed as hip hop’s prodigy AZ was diminished to his sidekick. Even when mildly successful group The Firm was released, consisting of Nas, AZ, Foxy Brown, and Nature, Nas was often coined as the unofficial headliner. Although the group eventually dismantled AZ and Nas remained close and continued to appear on each other’s respective albums. Perhaps AZ’s loyalty to his friend is the very thing that hinders him from creating his own identity with the public. He is still commonly referred to by casual fans as the rapper on “Life’s a B*tch”. Some of AZ’s most heralded songs feature Nas, including “How Ya Livin”, “Mo Money, Mo Murder”, and “The Essence”.

50 Cent once said in an interview with XXL Magazine, “Nas reads too much to effectively sell albums”. If this statement is perceived to be accurate then the same may apply to AZ as well. He is certainly a different breed than most emcees, and isn’t as much easy listening as he is easily mislabeled. He dips in and out of topics of hood relevance and being enlightened hoping to sustain a healthy balance. Perhaps it is easy to get lost in his jargon and lingo, which is certainly New York biased. For whatever the reason may be he has not been able to connect significantly outside of his region. He possesses international swagger and that alone usually correlates with the elite everywhere, provided they are exposed. If you check your local music retail store there is a reasonable chance that you may not even find his latest album on the shelf, but that would be a distribution problem and that alone can quell a career. AZ might be proof that in the music industry marketing is the most important aspect. None of this seems to bother AZ, claiming on Aziatic “never sold millions but f*ck it I’m here to save the babies”.

AZ currently has his own record label, Quiet Money which is under KOCH Entertainment a label that is based in New York and has been in operation for just over 20 years. KOCH Entertainment is the market leader among independent labels and distributors in both the U.S. and Canada and its record labels had the largest number of Billboard charting albums among independents in 2006/2007. Working under KOCH, AZ is looking to drop more albums and expand his own label as he works with developing other artist. He is going to do his best to make you respect him, there appears to be no end in sight for Anthony Cruz. “How much it gon take man, how much I gotta spit to make ya’ll understand that, I am number 1”. If nothing else his effort is undeniable.

RELATED CONTENT

• • Will Smith Immortalized At Grauman’s Chinese Theater [allhiphop.com]

  • Nas Wears “N****r” T-Shirt To Grammy Awards [allhiphop.com]

  • 9-Year-Old Rapper Gets Reality Show

  • Aspiring New York Rapper Shot Dead [sohh.com]

  • Jay-Z Rep Denies Marriage Rumors - Again [allhiphop.com]